Questions tagged [aesthetics]
Aesthetics is the study of the beautiful. It is one of the classical sub-disciplines of philosophy.
190
questions
2
votes
1
answer
227
views
Would sublime landscapes give Coleridge "humble feelings" or "sublime feelings"?
Lately I've been reading and rereading The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis. He opens by discussing "the well-known story of Coleridge at the waterfall" and the way that an English textbook ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
3
answers
151
views
What is "high art"? [closed]
Does the difference with low art still matter, and is high art not merely socially sanctioned by class but superior to low art, to the extent of the latter being an embarrassing mistake?
Feel free to ...
- 529
22
votes
12
answers
135k
views
What did Nietzsche mean by monsters and the abyss?
What do you think Nietzsche meant by "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." (...
- 502
1
vote
0
answers
20
views
Is 'analytic' opposed to 'synthesis', as universal rather than traditional?
I'm reading a book on Russian theatre and it mentions
a similarity in intent... [to]
the work of the cubists... intention was both analytic and
synthetic... both the investigation of the universal ...
- 529
2
votes
4
answers
435
views
Can AI make aesthetic judgments?
I'm guessing AI could maybe be used to determine the simplest solution, and I think it can clearly be used to check when a proof works. But can AI make aesthetic judgments? If so, then it may well end ...
3
votes
4
answers
305
views
Does all art have a sentiment?
It occurred to me that when e.g. reading poetry, I attach a lot of significance to a kind of sentiment. It seems independent of how genteel the work is.
I am interested in finding a way of thinking ...
CommunityBot
- 1
10
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Is mathematics an art?
I'm thinking of art in the traditional sense as visual, musical or literary.
Mathematics certainly requires technique, and hence one can say craftmanship. But whereas the production of an art (at ...
- 133
2
votes
5
answers
204
views
Are fairytales Immoral?
Disney and other prominent movie production studios are making a genre out of remakes of classical fairytales, like Little Mermaid or Peter Pan. The goal is to take on broader cultural contexts and ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
17
views
Does an aesthetic dichotomy between universalism and relativism occur widely cross-culturally?
Roughly speaking, there appears to be a recurrent attitude some people have about what intrinsically separates “good art” from some intrinsically held reason some art is not good. We can imagine such ...
- 106
2
votes
4
answers
147
views
Why did not former epochs distinguish between 'art' and 'craft'?
Source: p. 18 Middle, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction (2011) by Roger Scruton.
That said, we should recognize that the distinction between
aesthetic and utilitarian interests is no more clear ...
CommunityBot
- 1
1
vote
2
answers
92
views
is there a principled distinction between ethics and esthetics?
Judgments of good and judgments of beauty have a lot in common. In both cases, there is no generally agreed objective yardstick yet people who make the judgments often seem to believe that the ...
- 614
4
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Is art a form of communication?
I recently got into a discussion where the other person claimed that art is a form of communication. Bearing in mind that the definition of art is disputed, did any philosophers argue that a work ...
- 257
1
vote
3
answers
172
views
Is physical attractiveness subjective? [closed]
At one level, it seems obviously the case that this is true. Yet clearly, there are people who exist that most would call attractive and others who most would call not. So, how is the question of ...
- 19.8k
9
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Is the value of art always contextual, or can it ever be inherent?
A few years back, I was in a modern art museum and saw this painting by Russian Suprematist artist Kazimir Malevich:
It seems to me that the value of this painting lies completely in the identity of ...
- 4,945
2
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Isn't "modern art" kind of discriminating?
Let's say we have a person who likes to draw. He does it for some time and considers himself "doing art". But all people can draw, everyone has been drawing something in childhood or later ...
- 512
3
votes
3
answers
649
views
Can the product of creativity always be classified as analogy?
Without concepts there can be no thought, and without
analogies there can be no concepts.
—Hofstadter and Sander
Part of the creative process of a sculpter is to visualize a shape within a stone and ...
- 19.8k
2
votes
3
answers
140
views
Identification of light with existence and darkness with non-existence [closed]
Is it true that in ancient times many thinkers identified light with existence (essence), and darkness with non-existence?
Examples include Pythagoreanism, Neoplatonism, the ontology of light as-...
- 20.5k
-1
votes
1
answer
108
views
Does Endgame make sense?
I believe that Beckett's Endgame is meant to be the epitome of meaningless literature. Some seem to think that the critical theorist Adorno thinks that art is a meaningless brand that shows itself to ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
3
answers
105
views
Authenticity in art
I know the question some how tricky if not even boring, but the other day during a conference about Guido Reni and Caravaggio’s Saint Peter a group of scholars were discussing if a philological ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
247
views
Why does Schopenhauer think aesthetic experience is the suspension of pain and desire?
In an discussion about Schopenhauer , the French philosophy teacher Christophe Salaün says:
"L'expérience esthétique est la suspension momentanée de la douleur, du désir. En supprimant provisoirement ...
- 1,247
5
votes
3
answers
202
views
Philosophy of storytelling from non-western cultures
In the west, most of our thoughts on storytelling seem to originate and be influenced by Aristotle's Poetics, in one form or another.
However, it seems that in other cultures storytelling is often ...
- 1,074
-1
votes
1
answer
88
views
Are artworks created or discovered?
I am trying to deny Joseph Margolis' argument that pieces of art are not 'universals'. Particularly, I want to say that types (in the tokens-of-a-type sense) are essentially the same thing as ...
- 1,074
2
votes
1
answer
319
views
Is beauty a basic human need?
Did any philosopher argue that beauty is a basic human need?
By "beauty" (pulchritudo) I mean, as St. Thomas Aquinas defines it ([II-II q. 145 a. 2][4] co.), that which
results from the ...
- 7,782
2
votes
0
answers
56
views
Why is literature a problem for aesthetic formalism?
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy claims literature is a problem for aesthetic formalism (which says aesthetic value comprises perceptual properties):
Suppose you praise a short story for the ...
- 612
2
votes
1
answer
256
views
Why does Nietzsche affirm excellence so much?
A recurring theme in Nietzsche's writings seems to be that humans should strive for excellence “the highest power and splendor possible to the type man”.
Im just wondering what it is about excellence ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
436
views
What were the moral and aesthetic ideas that Camus was interested in?
I have read most of the books by Albert Camus thoroughly. I know that Camus' theory is absurdity but I want to know his take on morality. I mean, what were the moral and aesthetic ideas that Camus was ...
CommunityBot
- 1
6
votes
1
answer
173
views
What does Heidegger mean "the closedness of earth"?
What does Heidegger mean "the closedness of earth" in 'the origin of the work of art' aka 'Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes'?
- 13.1k
1
vote
0
answers
163
views
Philosophy and stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedians - such as Doug Stanhope, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Sarah Silverman, Ricky Gervais, Amy Schumer and Bill Burr - frequently work in a philosophical realm, in that they reflect upon ...
- 13.1k
2
votes
0
answers
47
views
How does aesthetic relate to structure?
If we are to take a subject say mathematics, then often mathematicians may attribute to the well defined structure and precision in describing its theories. I believe there are also other things like ...
- 2,102
2
votes
1
answer
53
views
Is it the content or the source of an obligation that determines whether it is moral or aesthetic?
Is it the content or the source of an obligation that determines whether it is moral or aesthetic?
Consider the following statement reflecting a perceived obligation: "I must save the beautiful ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
57
views
Does Kant implicitly (or maybe even explicitly?) hold to a propositional-operator gloss of aesthetics?
Now sometimes it is said that knowledge is primarily knowledge-that, i.e. some elementary epistemic operator is a propositional operator/"attitude report". Or at least there is an invoked ...
- 10.2k
5
votes
6
answers
960
views
Is Architecture a Language?
I am puzzling over this question awhile, and I can’t find any good, clear reference on the topic without going way to deep into linguistics and getting too abstract. Can anybody explain to me if ...
- 3,996
5
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Are "aesthetic experiences" limited to art and music?
I was wondering whether philosophers consider aesthetic experiences to be something that permeate through a range of day to day experiences or if they're limited to art.
For example, can learning/...
- 1
3
votes
4
answers
700
views
Are aesthetic judgments rational?
I was reading this article: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aesthetic-judgment/#1.4
I was thinking that aesthetic judgments are responses that derive from our emotions. So they can be considered ...
- 18k
1
vote
2
answers
213
views
What does "Normative" Mean?
I was reading the SEP articles on aesthetic judgment and had a really hard time understanding some parts. What it came down to is that they were using a definition of 'normative' I did not know. The ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
0
answers
160
views
What in mathematics has the property of beauty?
I might or might not be at an impasse in my writing... I have around 200 pages of notes, and I finally sat down and tried to compile some of the material, but I feel like the presentation is off ...
- 10.2k
4
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What is an "aesthetic experience"?
So, we're doing a project in philosophy class, discussing what exactly an "aesthetic experience" is. I understand, that it is a very personal definition that everybody has, but I'm sure there are some ...
9
votes
3
answers
404
views
Why in the academic fields of art and design, the philosophy taught or mentioned is often Continental philosophy?
Is there any rationale to prefer, in academic fields of art, Continental philosophy over Analytic philosophy? I guess there might be a historical reason why philosophy evolved into two approaches but ...
- 18k
1
vote
1
answer
207
views
Can one author be proved to be better than another?
Can we objectively say that one author is better than another? For example, could we say William Shakespeare is objectively a better author than E.L. James? If it is possible, how would we decide? ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
2
answers
908
views
Where does Nietzsche state that destruction is necessary to creation?
I've read somewhere that Nietzsche argues that destruction is always necessary in order to create, I think that the reference was to "thus spoke Zarathustra" but I couldn't find it myself.
...
- 4,945
1
vote
0
answers
115
views
Defending the Unpopular: Aesthetic Realism
Aesthetic realism is the belief that there are things that are objectively more beautiful than other things. This implies beauty is not subjective, and if one believes an actually beautiful thing is ...
3
votes
1
answer
676
views
What does Danto mean when he writes that artworks are "embodied meanings"?
In his paper "The Art World Revisited" Arthur Danto writes:
The thesis which emerged from my book The Transfiguration of the
Commonplace is that works of art are symbolic expressions, and ...
- 769
7
votes
2
answers
668
views
What does the philosopher Bruno Latour mean when he claims that we have never been modern?
I am trying to read Bruno Latour's paper "A cautious Prometheus? A few steps towards philosophy of design" but have no background in philosophy and so would be happy if someone could help me ...
- 769
3
votes
3
answers
643
views
What is the enigma of art?
I've always been fascinated by the following constellated section of Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, probably because phenomenology is intuitively easier to get to grips with than a drawn out critical ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
110
views
Can morally good actions be considered beautiful/aesthetic?
Ive been trying to find resources on whether morality can be considered aesthetic.
I found philosophers who suggest ideas can be aesthetic, so I was wondering whether something as abstract could be ...
- 479
8
votes
3
answers
529
views
Does postmodernism in art criticism collapse into relativism? What's its merit?
Postmodernism rejects the idea of a universal truth and in context of literary art criticism it shifts the focus from the writer or the author to the audience and from constant meaning to unstable one ...
- 769
1
vote
2
answers
153
views
What is the relationship between appraising art and philosophy?
I'm not quite sure of the relationship between philosophical systems and the appraisal of art. I know philosophy encompasses aesthetics, but I don't know if a system telling you how to appraise art is ...
- 1,836
0
votes
1
answer
381
views
heteropathic and idiopathic identification
Reading the book "Art and Psychoanalysis" by Maria Walsh on modern art criticism and philosophy, I encountered the words "heteropathic identification" and "idiopathic identification". Do they mean ...
CommunityBot
- 1
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
How do philosophers differentiate between change and progress at the intersection of art, design, and business management?
I do Theory of Knowledge (IBDP) at school and in regards to the subject areas, I was thinking of linking the arts and design (humanities? design of products?) to reason, sense perception, intuition, ...
2
votes
0
answers
74
views
How do ethical values shape one's aesthetics?
I have been struggling through an idea for the past several months regarding the order of values and its influence upon art. It started with a quick tour of an online art gallery showcasing Rafael, ...
- 42.3k